The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Are they huge? She's 11lbs

Yes they are quite large.


Large Australorps
Cock 3.9 - 4.7 kg 8.6 - 10.3 lbs
Hen 3.3 - 4.2 kg 7.3 - 9.2 lbs

 

[aoxa]

Well... been scrapping with this mother in the henhouse every night when I collect eggs. Every day I extract 3-4 eggs from under her and get hen pecked for my trouble. So.... last night I gots this brite idee. Instead of extracting eggs, I added some. Ol Biddy is now a settin on a dozen eggs. We will see if it lasts for 3 weeks. Now, for those of you that don't incubate. My egg boxes are elevated because I have hounds that like to share my eggs with me. Do I put her and the eggs in isolation now, before they hatch like this weekend or next weekend or wait til they hatch, or leave her to figure out how to get them to jump.... probably 3 feet off the ground?

That's a Stony question.

I always felt uneasy with hens hatching high up, so I made sure they were ground level by hatch time. 3 feet is quite high.

 

[countrygirl74]

Been super busy so it took me a while to catch up!! All my chicks are doing great! They have now completely integrated with my big girls.

I successfully re-homed 2 roosters - although I am still a little sad, it was for the best. It sure did quiet down around here and my girls are so much more relaxed. I ended up re-homing Chubby Cheeks a.k.a. Fabio to a guy who had 9 girls so I am sure he's in heaven now. I really miss him though; he was an amazingly great and beautiful rooster.
I also got rid of the little stinker red silkie to a ranch that had a group of bantam cochin babies. He took to the babies right away and even lets them sleep under him - pretty good daddy for such a bratty little boy! Now all I have is my daughter's blue silkie roo and possibly a blue cochin cockerel, although we're not completely sure if it's a cockerel or not yet...

How often should I give the chicks FF, I'm doing it 4x a day.
Also wondering about brooder bedding. All our area feed stores are out of coastal hay so I'm using bagged pine shavings. They actually eat the smaller pieces. Is this ok? I can buy oat hay is that alright to use, it is extremely thick and coarse. What do you all use??

I free-feed FF - just fill when empty. As for brooder bedding.... I use paper towels for the first week, then switch to TerrAmigo animal bedding - it's a pine crumble.

Does anyone who feeds exclusively FF only feed once a day?

I sometimes only have to fill the dishes once a day, sometimes it lasts for a couple days. It doesn't really go bad so it just depends on how big your dishes are and how fast they go through the feed.

Hey folks-

Last week, I bought 3 healthy young laying hens to introduce to my flock, that were previously being used for breeding. Obviously, their butts are picked clean. The feathers are appearing to have some growth, but one of my spanish hens in particular can't seem to stop pecking. The pecking order stuff was sorted out in a day or two, but now when one of the new girls is taking a nap or hanging around, and my spanish hen happens to wander by, she'll take a few bites out of their butts! Then, she kind of follows them in an attempt to get a few more bites.

They have access to 18% protein organic feed, tons of fresh vegetables, food scraps, and I throw them some mealworms sometimes. They even have a screened raised bed of grass to eat. If it's a protein issue- why are my other 6 chickens uninterested? My run is 20x25 feet with 9 chickens- so it's not a space issue.

I know of a few conventional products that are advertised to stop pecking. I was wondering if anyone had any home remedies, holistic alternatives, etc? Anything that might help the feathers regrow while deterring my hungry spanish hen?

I agree with those who suggested blue-kote (or wound-kote) - also, depending on where the bareness is, you can check into getting a couple saddles...
http://www.chickensaddlesanddiapers.webs.com/

Ok, I have a problem for the seasoned chickeners. I have two males left, a Cochin Roo that never messes with me and is great around all the kids that live and come to my house (ages 3-9) and then there's Sprite, our silkie boy. He used to be so sweet, but all of a sudden anytime myself or one of my daughters walks past Cloud, our one silkie girl, he attacks us. He has not done this to hubby, who has only been home for 3 weeks. This morning he did it twice, and as usual I picked him up and carried him around, the little $!?&@ BIT me! I swear I almost snapped his neck right there. All the kids that visit our house know how to treat the chickens, they're not mean they don't chase them and they know how to pick up Cloud...I can't have a tiny evil chicken scratching up their legs. I have one nephew who for some reason has been scared to death of the chickens since they were five weeks old, I can't imagine how traumatized he'd be if Sprite attacked him. I can't decide if its good or bad that he only does it when we're walking between him and Cloud, like he's protecting her? But I'm also thinking I don't want babies from that little terror, since most people say not to breed a mean Roo. What do I do? I'm open to suggestions.

Edit to add...he's under a year old.

Oh, and I'm working on the duck pics....going to take pics of the chicken stall too, since we removed the cabinet coop.

Stupid iPad is always auto correcting wrong! Makes me crazy...

I just re-homed our little red silkie boy "Snuffy" - but I had him pretty well re-trained before I did. I used the "feather-tugging" method aoxa suggested. He was quite the little brat. Although he never attacked my feet at all, he did fly and attack both my husband and daughter about knee-height - not mercilessly, just little short aggressive moves. However, when I tried to catch him or if my hand was out toward him, he would also peck - and not only peck, but grab onto my skin and hold on! What I did was wear gloves for a while while dealing with him. Every time he acted aggressive, I would tug his back feathers. If he responded by pecking, I would pick him up. If he continued to peck or grab on (I'm amazed at how far he can reach his head around!), I would hang him upside down for a few minutes. I never had any more issues with him after working with him like this. But I agree with others who commented, you don't want to breed that attitude. He is now happy at his new home being a daddy to a small group of bantam cochin chicks. They have not seen any aggressiveness so far.
(P.S. My one and only silkie girl is also "Cloud")

Sorry.... was thinking of Carla for a minute.... or maybe CountryGirl..... Did I just say that?

I've missed you too...

Pictures.. again.

Beautiful as always! I am so jealous of all the green! I just have a bunch of dirt...

 

[delisha]

Ok, I know the answer is in this thread, and I should know it, but I don't have time to try and find it.. sorry


I just read Sally Sunshine's great article about vent gleet that was on the homepage a few days ago. The question I have is, vent gleet is not necessarily the same as just sticky gross butt right? I have read many times about the horrid smell associated with vent gleet, and two of my sloppy derriere girls don't smell, they are just messy ladies that no matter how many times I clean them, it ends up caking back up again. I've even watched them defecate, their droppings are normal in appearance, but it just smears down their feathers, and gets all gunked up. Last time I cleaned them I trimmed their butt feathers but some still manages to get stuck on there. Other than the obvious waste on their feathers, there is no other discharge.

I don't do FF, aside from it's health benefits, might it help with this issue as well?

what do you all think?

MB

MB,

I you feed FF you do not have to worry. Gleet is a yeast infection gone very bad. Just ACV in the water will prevent gleet. My Orps have feathers will streaks, I am not trimming feathers. I do wash bums once in a while.

 

[Child of Noah]

If only you could see how vibrant his red comb and wattles are in person.. It is fire truck red.

I have never had a rooster with such a vibrant comb and wattles.. He sure loves to pose for a picture.

Cletus is a Barred Plymouth Rock, and is 18 weeks old in the picture.

This is not your first barred Plymouth rock rooster? What have you done differently? Does he get different food, more sunshine? He is amazingly photogenic!

That's a Stony question.

I always felt uneasy with hens hatching high up, so I made sure they were ground level by hatch time. 3 feet is quite high.

That is a Stony question. He recently wrote something ... either here or another thread.... about babies being high up. He had a hen who set up shop in his (wood)shop, and it was really high up. He had intended to take the babies down himself, but by the morning he had intended to do so, and went out to move them, Momma-Hen had already had them hop down herself before Stony got to the shop. Not a single chick was harmed in the process. Mom and babies were all sitting on the floor and waiting for him to come open the door so they could go outside.

 

[FarmerJH]

Yes they are quite large.


Large Australorps
Cock 3.9 - 4.7 kg 8.6 - 10.3 lbs
Hen 3.3 - 4.2 kg 7.3 - 9.2 lbs

Thank you

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hi everyone I'm new to this thread but I wanted to share this photo of my beautiful x bred hen Sophie. She is seven years old and was still laying 5 or 6 eggs a week before she went broody. She is my Proof that the free range lifestyle produces happy long lasting hens. It's so funny this is the first time in her life that she has ever gone broody at 7 years old so strange. I hope you all like it xxx

MB

Agree w/Del. Vent gleet is a yeast infection and you'd know if you had it!

Quote:
I'M TELLIN' CARLA

(That's me using the rolling pin on LW for Carla...

)

 

[armorfirelady]

At what approximate age does everyone switch their chicks from chic food to all flock? The chicks I am getting are on chic food now with some all flock in it. They are all at least 4 weeks old now (I think)

I'd like to put them on all flock food and was thinking I could give them animal protein like livers, hearts etc to insure they get all the nutrients they need. This will be my first time with chicks this young.

 

[stonykill]

Well... been scrapping with this mother in the henhouse every night when I collect eggs. Every day I extract 3-4 eggs from under her and get hen pecked for my trouble. So.... last night I gots this brite idee. Instead of extracting eggs, I added some. Ol Biddy is now a settin on a dozen eggs. We will see if it lasts for 3 weeks. Now, for those of you that don't incubate. My egg boxes are elevated because I have hounds that like to share my eggs with me. Do I put her and the eggs in isolation now, before they hatch like this weekend or next weekend or wait til they hatch, or leave her to figure out how to get them to jump.... probably 3 feet off the ground?

Some of my girls have done this. Not because I wanted them to, but because they made nests I didn't know about until it was to late. IF you are going to move her do it in the pitch black dark. Cover her head with a towel. Move her to her new nest and lock her in it for 24 hours. Or what you said last. Know when the hatch starts, and before 48 hours is up move her and the lil ones down to the ground.

That's a Stony question.

I always felt uneasy with hens hatching high up, so I made sure they were ground level by hatch time. 3 feet is quite high.

I of course prefer ground level broody's. Sometimes the hens have other plan. But all of my nest boxes are floor level.

 

[RedRidge]

At what approximate age does everyone switch their chicks from chic food to all flock? The chicks I am getting are on chic food now with some all flock in it. They are all at least 4 weeks old now (I think)

I'd like to put them on all flock food and was thinking I could give them animal protein like livers, hearts etc to insure they get all the nutrients they need. This will be my first time with chicks this young.

Mine get the extra protein and less limestone until they begin laying... then they drop down to the protein level of the layers with the increase in limestone (with free choice oyster shells)